Bleach (Anime)
Bleach is a Japanese anime series based on Tite Kubo's manga of the same name. The series ran for a total of 366 episodes, including 111 episodes of original material not based on the manga. Bleach was produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by Noriyuki Abe. Bleach's Japanese and English voice actors include some of the most credited and well known voice actors, such as Masakazu Morita and Johnny Yong Bosch. The music was composed by Shiro Sagisu, who also composed the music for Neon Genesis Evangelion. A total of fifteen opening themes and thirty ending themes were used throughout the series, featuring a diverse group of Japanese artists. The series aired in Japan on October 5, 2004 to March 27, 2012. The English version aired on September 8, 2006 to November 1, 2014. Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper from another Soul Reaper name Rukia Kuchiki. His newfound powers force him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits, and guiding departed souls to the afterlife. Plot Ichigo Kurosaki is a fifteen-year-old high school student with orange hair, brown eyes, and the ability to see spirits. As he tries to protect the spirit of a little girl from a hollow, he witnesses a clash between the malevolent spirit and a female Soul Reaper. Later, Ichigo is met by the same woman again in his room. She introduces herself as Rukia Kuchiki, and explains to Ichigo the basic duty of the Soul Reapers is the act of soul cleansing. The hollow, named Fishbone D, returns, attacking Ichigo's home, and Rukia is wounded. In order to save his family, Ichigo desperately takes Rukia’s power into himself and becomes a Soul Reaper to successfully defeat the hollow. After discovering Rukia has enrolled in his class, Ichigo learns that she has lost her power and that he must pose as her substitute, until her powers can recover. Although he refuses this responsibility at first, Ichigo eventually accepts after realizing he cannot just turn a blind eye if he encounters a hollow again. Ichigo discovers that one of his classmates, Orihime Inoue, is being stalked by her older brother's spirit who turned into the hollow Acidwire, which makes him hesitate to fulfill his duty. As Ichigo is forced to use his power again, his qualms of killing hollows are rested and he finally submits to his purpose as a substitute Soul Reaper. Ichigo’s friend Yasutora "Chad" Sado comes into possession of a cursed cockatiel that is inhabited by the soul of a small boy. But supposed misfortune to anyone who possesses the cockatriel is due to a hollow named Shrieker who has been stalking the boy's soul. Chad is attacked by Shrieker before Rukia arrives to aid him. With Rukia's help, Chad fights Shrieker despite not being able to see him. Ichigo eventually arrives and defeats the Shrieker. But as Shrieker was originally a murderer in life, he is dragged through the Gates of Hell instead of dissolving into the Soul Society. The spirit that inhabited the cockatiel is released to move on to the Soul Society. In order for Ichigo to transform into a Soul Reaper when Rukia is not around, she purchases some soul candy from the Urahara Shop for him. However, the candy is actually a modsoul, an artificial warrior from the Soul Society created to destroy hollows. Once inside Ichigo's body, the modsoul goes on a rampage while ruining Ichigo's social image. Ichigo confronts the modsoul possessing his body, but is then distracted by an emerging hollow. Together, they defeat the hollow. When Kisuke Urahara, the merchant who sold Rukia her gigai, comes for the "defective" merchandise, Ichigo takes the modsoul back and places him into a stuffed lion plushie while naming him "Kon". Meanwhile in the Soul Society, another Soul Reaper is sent to track down Rukia for retrieval. Ichigo and his family visit their mother's grave on the anniversary of her death. While there, the Soul Reaper sent to retrieve Rukia attacks them because she broke the Soul Society's laws by giving Ichigo her powers. The battle halts when Ichigo's sisters Karin and Yuzu are attacked by a huge hollow. Ichigo confronts the hollow, who is revealed as the Grand Fisher, the hollow who killed Ichigo's mother. In a fit of rage, Ichigo defeats the hollow as he escapes being he is killed. The Soul Reaper sent after Rukia leaves with a warning when he witnesses Ichigo's strength. When popular TV star/spirit medium Don Kanonji transforms a spirit into a hollow during an exorcism, Ichigo is forced to clean up the mess. Upon the hollow's defeat, Kanonji is shocked to realize what he has done. With a little cheering-up from Ichigo, Kanonji is back to his old self again, and calls Ichigo, despite Ichigo's objections, his new apprentice. While on another hollow fighting mission, Ichigo encounters Uryū Ishida, a classmate belonging to a clan known as the Quincy, humans that can use spiritual power to manifest a bow to fight hollows. Uryū declares himself an enemy of all Soul Reapers and challenges Ichigo to a competition of hunting hollows. The contest between Ichigo and Uryū has lured hundreds of hollows into Karakura Town, endangering many of Ichigo's friends. Chad is forced to fight a hollow in order to save Karin. During the battle, he is finally able to see the hollow clearly, and develops a new ability, an armored right arm capable of firing energy blasts. The situation worsens as more hollows appear in the human world, attacking the school where Orihime and her friends are. While defending them, Orihime develops her own power, the Shun Shun Rikka, a group of fairy-like creatures coming from the hairpins given to her by her brother, and defeats the hollow. Afterward, Urahara takes in Orihime and Chad to help them with their new powers while Rukia and Ichigo confront Uryū. The legion of hollows force Ichigo and Uryū to team up in combat while the others watch. A giant hollow called a Menos Grande arrives on the scene, and is driven away after Ichigo inflicts a wound assisted by power from Uryū. However, he releases too much spiritual power in the process. The strain of his powers causes Ichigo to lose consciousness, and Uryū saves him by releasing the excess energy through his bow. Tired of mistreatment from Ichigo, Kon runs away to find a better owner. But he finds his abuse continuing from girls due to his freaky nature. Ichigo makes an effort to befriend Uryū but is rebuffed. Rukia becomes conflicted with her attachment with humans. Rather than endanger Ichigo, she runs away to face the newly-arrived hunters from the Soul Society. Ichigo chases after Rukia only to encounter the two soul reapers pursuing her. Ichigo faces off against the Soul Reaper Renji Abarai. Renji triggers the shikai state of his zanpakutō with Ichigo overwhelmed against a fully trained Soul Reaper. Ichigo makes a comeback against Renji, overwhelming him. Just when Renji is about to fall, his commander Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's brother, steps in and defeats Ichigo with overwhelming pace. Rukia returns to the Soul Society so that Ichigo can be spared death, and Ichigo is left dying with his power stripped from him. He is then saved by Urahara, who agrees to help him rescue Rukia, who faces the death penalty in the Soul Society. Ichigo, however, must agree to train with Urahara to regain his powers. As his last day of school ends, Ichigo is upset to discover that no one except for Orihime, Chad and Uryū seems to remember Rukia, due to a mind wipe imposed by the Soul Society. He begins his training at the Urahara Shop, first battling the shop's girl assistant, Ururu Tsumugiya to regain control of his spirit body. As the training enters stage two, Ichigo's soul is cut from his body and thrown into a pit. He must regain his Soul Reaper powers within three days, or risk becoming a hollow. Meanwhile, Yoruichi Shihōin, a talking cat, offers to train Chad and Orihime to control and enhance their powers so they can join Ichigo to go to the Soul Society and rescue Rukia. In the Soul Society, Rukia’s sentence is moved up and she only has twenty five days left. In the pit, Ichigo battles through the agony of the process of becoming a hollow. His transformation is almost complete as he enters his own mind, coming face to face with his inner spirit, Zangetsu, who helps him unleash the Soul Reaper powers he was born with. In a powerful display, Ichigo emerges from the pit with his Soul Reaper uniform on, wearing the mask of a hollow. Breaking the mask off, Ichigo enters the next stage of his training, that is to fight Urahara. While fighting Urahara, Ichigo learns that Zangetsu is the name of his zanpakutō. Upon learning the name, the sword transforms into its more powerful shikai form as Ichigo unleashes an energy blast which knocks off Urahara's hat, completing the third stage in his training. Orihime and Chad, meanwhile, finish their training with Yoruichi. The entire group, including Uryū, who has been training alone, set out for the Soul Society using a gate that Yoruichi and Urahara made. Difference Between Anime and Manga *In episode 1 Yuzu is the one who comes and gets Ichigo for help when the family is under attack. But in the manga it was Karin. Films *Bleach movie 1 *Bleach movie 2 *Bleach movie 3 *Bleach movie 4 Theme Songs :Opening *"Asterisk" (Ep. 1 - 25) *"D-tecnolife" (Ep. 26 - 51) *"One Lone Flower" (Ep. 52 - 74) *"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" (Ep. 75 - 97) *"Rolling Star" (Ep. 98 - 120) *"ALONES" (Ep. 121 - 143) *"After Dark" (Ep. 144 - 167) *"CHU-BURA" (Ep. 168 - 189) *"Velonica" (Ep. 190 - 214) *"Girl S" (Ep. 215 - 242) *"Anima Rossa" (Ep. 243 - 265) *"CHANGE" (Ep. 266 - 291) *"Melody of the Wild Dance" (Ep. 292 - 316) *"BLUE" (Ep. 317 - 342) *"Spring Wind" (Ep. 343 - 366) :Closing *"Life is Like a Boat" (Ep. 1 - 13) *"Thank You!!" (Ep. 14 - 25) *"Comet" (Ep. 26 - 38) *"happypeople" (Ep. 39 - 51) *"Life" (Ep. 52 - 63) *"My Pace" (Ep. 64 - 74) *"Hanabi" (Ep. 75 - 86) *"MOVIN!!" (Ep. 87 - 97) *"Baby It's You" (Ep. 98 - 109) *"Sakura Biyori" (Ep. 110 - 120) *"Tiptoe" (Ep. 121 - 131) *"Bitter Orange") (Ep. 132 - 143) *"Tane o Maku Hibi" (Ep. 144 - 154) *"Gratitude" (Ep. 155 - 167) *"Orange" (Ep. 168 - 179) *"Gallop" (Ep. 180 - 189) *"Hitohira no Hanabira" (Ep. 190 - 201) *"Sky Chord ~Otona ni Naru Kimi e~" (Ep. 202 - 214) *"Kimi o Mamotte, Kimi o Aishite" (Ep. 215 - 229) *"Mad Surfer" (Ep. 230 - 242) *"Sakurabito" (Ep. 243 - 255) *"On a Journey to You") (Ep. 256 - 265) *"Stay Beautiful" (Ep. 266 - 278) *"Echoes" (Ep. 279 - 291) *"Last Moment" (Ep. 292 - 303) *"Song for..." (Ep. 304 - 316) *"Blue Bird" (Ep. 317 - 329) *"Haruka Kanata" (Ep. 330 - 342) *"Re:pray" (Ep. 343 - 354) *"MASK" (Ep. 355 - 366) Sagas *'The Substitute' (Ep. 1 - 20) *'Soul Society: The Entry' (Ep. 21 - 41) *'The Rescue' (Ep. 42 - 63) *'The Bounts' (Ep. 64 - 91) *'The Assault' (Ep. 92 - 109) *'The Arrancar' (Ep. 110 - 131) *'The Hueco Mundo Sneak Entry' (Ep. 132 - 151) *'The Fierce Fight' (Ep. 152 – 167) *'The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai' (Ep. 168 - 189) *'Arrancar vs Shinigami' (Ep. 190 – 205) *'The Past' (Ep. 206 - 212) *'Battle in Karakura Town' (Ep. 213 - 229) *'Zanpakuto: The Alternate Tale' (Ep. 230 – 265) *'Fall of the Espada' (Ep. 266 – 306) *'Gotei 13 Invading Army' (Ep. 307 - 342) *'The Lost Substitute Shinigami' (Ep. 343 – 366) Voice Cast :Japanese *as Ichigo Kurosaki/Hollow Ichigo *as Orihime Inoue & Young Ichigo *as Rukia Kuchiki & Hisana Kuchiki *as Uryu Ishida *as Yasutora "Chad" Sado *as Renji Abarai *as Karin Kurosaki *as Yuzu Kurosaki *as Isshin Kurosaki *as Masaki Kurosaki *as Tatsuki Arisawa *as Yoruichi Shihoin *as Toshiro Hitsugaya *as Byakuya Kuchiki *as Rangiku Matsumoto *as Kisuke Urahara *as Kenpachi Zaraki *as Shunsui Kyoraku *as Jushiro Ukitake *as Sora Inoue *as Sui-Feng *as Ikkaku Madarame *as Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck *as Kaien Shiba *Kaname Tosen *Kensei Muguruma *Shinji Hirako *Chizuru Honsho *Michiru Ogawa *Mahana Natsui *Mashiro Kuna *Kyoko Haida *Kaoru Unagiya *Ikumi Unagiya *Don Kanonji *Oscar Joaquin de la Rosa *Rurichiyo Kasumioji *Sajin Komamura *Tessai Tsukabishi *Kukaku Shiba *Ganju Shiba *Izuru Kira *Keigo Asano *Grand Fisher *Kiyone Kotetsu *Isane Kotetsu *Retsu Unohana *Nanao Ise *Yachiru Kusajishi *Shuhei Hisagi *Momo Hinamori *Jinta Hanakari *Ururu Tsumugiya *Mizuiro Kojima *Kon :English *Johnny Yong Bosch as Ichigo Kurosaki/Hollow Ichigo & Young Ichigo (Ep. 178) *Stephanie Sheh as Orihime Inoue, Isane Kotetsu *Michelle Ruff as Rukia Kuchiki *Derek Stephen Prince as Uryu Ishida *Mac Worden as Yasutora "Chad" Sado (Agents of Shinigami arc - Soul Society arc) *Jamieson Price as Yasutora "Chad" Sado (Bounts arc - Present) *Wally Wingert as Renji Abarai *Kate Higgins as Karin Kurosaki, Retsu Unohana & Nanao Ise *Janice Kawaye as Yuzu Kurosaki *Patrick Seitz as Isshin Kurosaki & Kenpachi Zaraki (Ep. 206 - Present) *Ellyn Stern as Masaki Kurosaki *Mona Marshall as Young Ichigo (Ep. 7 - 8) *Wendee Lee as Tatsuki Arisawa & Yoruichi Shihoin *Steve Staley as Toshiro Hitsugaya *Daniel Woren as Byakuya Kuchiki *Megan Hollingshead as Rangiku Matsumoto *Michael Lindsay as Kisuke Urahara (Ep. 4 - 214) *Doug Erholtz as Kisuke Urahara (Ep. 215 - Present) *David Lodge as Kenpachi Zaraki *Steve-Kramer as Shunsui Kyoraku *Liam O'Brien as Jushiro Ukitake, Sora Inoue *Karen Strassman as Sui-Feng *Vic Mignogna as Ikkaku Madarame *Colleen O' Shaughnessey as Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, Michiru Ogawa *Dave Mallow as Kaien Shiba *David Rasner as Kaname Tosen *as Kensei Muguruma *Roger Craig Smith as Shinji Hirako *as Chizuru Honsho *as Mahana Natsui *Laura Bailey as Mashiro Kuna *as Kyoko Haida *Yuri Lowenthal as Keigo Asano & Kaoru Unagiya *as Ikumi Unagiya *Michael Sorich as Don Kanonji *as Oscar Joaquin de la Rosa *as Rurichiyo Kasumioji *as Sajin Komamura *as Tessai Tsukabishi *Kyle Hebert as Ganju Shiba *Grant George as Izuru Kira *Paul St Peter as Grand Fisher *as Yachiru Kusajishi *as Shuhei Hisagi *as Momo Hinamori *as Hisana Kuchiki *Cindy Robinson as Jinta Hanakari, Kukaku Shiba & Kiyone Kotetsu *as Ururu Tsumugiya *as Mizuiro Kojima *Quinton Flynn as Kon Trivia *The third ending, "Houki Boushi," had a different animation for each episode, one for each of the 13 squads. The squad for each episode is as follows: Episode 26- 6th Squad, Episode 27- 3rd Squad, Episode 28- 11th Squad, Episode 29- 12th Squad, Episode 30- 4th Squad, Episode 31- 2nd Squad, Episode 32- 9th Squad, Episode 33- 7th Squad, Episode 34- 5th Squad, Episode 35- 10th Squad, Episode 36- 1st Squad, Episode 37- 8th Squad, and Episode 38- 13th Squad. In addition to the Captain and Lieutenant from each squad, they also show major characters from that squad, other characters that squad interacts with (ex. many of the female Lieutenants are shown hanging out in multiple endings), and a shot of our "heroes". *Early scanlations of the manga noted Ichigo's birthday as July 7 instead of July 15, causing great confusion among fans. *BLEACH creator Tite Kubo assigned several characters theme songs which are used to give insight to characters that might not normally appear in the run of the manga or anime. *Ichigo names the mod soul he finds Kon, which is fitting seeing as "Kon" literally translates to "soul". *The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and BLEACH anime share the same musician, Shiroh Sagisu. *When Ichigo used to go to the hair dresser, people would ask him about his hair color and since he hated that, he doesn't go anymore. Normally, Yuzu cuts it. *In the first anime episode, there is an electric guitar which suggests Ichigo might like to play or listen to rock music (which is viable, considering one of his favorite celebrities is Mike Ness from the band Social Distortion). *According to the Shonen Jump's character popularity polls, Ichigo is consistently the Bleach series's favorite character. *Rukia likes to climb to high places, rabbit-themed items (evident when she reveals she wanted a "Chappy the Bunny" soul candy dispenser), and her favorite foods are eggs and cucumbers. *Rukia has consistently been the second most popular Bleach character in Shonen Jump's polls. Her position has been usurped only very recently by Toshiro Hitsugaya in an official poll. *The Shiba siblings have a naming pattern. The first characters in their names refer to a type of terrain ("kai" means "sea," "kuu" means "air," "gan" means "boulder) and the second characters refer to birds ("en" means "swallow," "kaku" means "crane," "ju" means "eagle"). *On the front of the magazine that is offered to kon by the young boys in "Kon-samma's diary Part 1" (ep 56) is Matsumoto in a red bathing suit. *Starting from minute 30 of the 1 hour special (episode 68-69) you can hear, in the background, what was the current ending theme "My Pace" by SunSet Swish. *"Menos Grande" probably was meant to be translated as "Big Minus", in the sense of a very large Hollow, but in this specific order it is literally translated from Spanish as "Less Big". *Byakuya Kuchiki wears the standard captain uniform along with a white headpiece called a kenseikan (symbolizing his noble rank as the head of the Kuchiki family) and a white scarf made by the master weaver, Tsujishirō Kuroemon III. The scarf is called ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu (lit. silver-white windflower light silk), and is a family heirloom handed down through the generations to the head of the Kuchiki family. Ten large houses can be built from the cost of just one of these. *During the fourth opening, "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" (episodes 75-97), after the closeup of Kariya's right eye, there is a different still picture for every of those episodes. *In order to promote the new Bleach movie, the production team decided to replace the new Opening (Rolling Star - YUI) and Ending's (Baby it's you! - June) animation with footage from the movie "Memories of Nobody". *"Ichigo" using certain kanji does mean "strawberry," which is where his nickname comes from. However, the kanji used in his name means "to protect one." *When Byakuya Kuchiki was first shown in the real world he was infact not wearing his captians uniform...not to long after he was seen in Soul Society wearing his captains uniform *In episdoe 28, after the smoking shinigami-s begin to chase Ichigo, the anime is shown from the air, showing the streets of the Seireitei like a maze, the second time, when you see the maze, it's not only different, but it has the form of the number 28 (like on a digital watch), referring to the episode number. *Going with the "15" motif/joke in referrance to Ichigo's name (ichi - one, go - five), Ichigo's birthday is July 15th. Also, although several characters' birthdays have passed, they remain the same age (strangely enough, 15) *In the Japanese version, Ichigo's younger sisters often call him "Ichi-Nii" as a shorthand for Ichigo Nii-san. Ichi means 1 and nii means 2. He is also called Ichi-niisan which means 1,2,3 if 'niisan' is broken into 'nii' and 'san' respectively. *When Episode 186 aired on TV Tokyo in Japan, an unusual error occured. The ending sequence attatched to the episode did not include a credit roll. Instead, it was just the typical ending sequence without any credits. *The Arrancar section of episode 196, Byakuya and the Arrancar copy the act of endlessly dashing behind the other as done in the Buso Renkin manga. *In the restaurant scene of episode 204 at around 7.41 you can see the back of Sennas head from the Bleach movie "Memories of Nobody". *In episode 1. When Ichigo and Isshin throw their last punches before Ichigo goes to his room. Isshin falls in a way that the door behind Ichigo would be to his right. But after Ichigo leaves, we see that the top of Isshin's head now faces the door instead. *A Running gag in every episode, is that during the preview for the next episode, instead of a character explaining what's supposed to happen in the next episode, either two characters will argue with each other, or a single character will rant on and on about something that has no importance whatsoever to the next episode. *As of episode 20 episode, Ichigo's Zangetsu is always in its Shikai state. *In episode 1. Tite Kubo (Bleach creator) anwsered this question from 'anime insider' that (shortened) '' Did Ichigo when he used Rukia's powers have his zanpaku-tô Zangetsu or Rukia's zanpaku-tô sode no shirayuki.'' Tite repled '' He used used Rukia's'' I think because his powers were not 'discovered' till Zangetsu helped him become soul reaper (after his first fight with Byakuya). *In all episodes, Konamura is an anthropomorphic canine who is very self-conscious about his appearance, and so wears a large helmet that conceals his entire head when he is first introduced. After his fight with Kenpachi Zaraki (during which his helmet is destroyed), he gains enough confidence to go without the helmet. His canine appearance is often the source of jokes; for example, when his lieutenant asks where to find a bathroom, he appears to direct him to a fire hydrant, though he is in fact pointing at a bathroom just around the corner. *Komamura has a close friendship with Kaname Tōsen, and is shocked when the latter defects from Soul Society, feeling that his friend has abandoned his morals. Komamura resolves to awaken Tōsen with his own hands. Komamura is immensely strong, as demonstrated by his ability to hurl the arrancar Po's massive released state over his head and onto the ground. *In every episode Hitsugaya is only 3'5". *At the end of episode 89 in the English dub there is a spelling mistake, instead of saying "to be continue" it is spelled "to be countinued". *In episode 1 A Shinigami Is Born in the last scene where the girl ghost is being chased by a Hollow and just before Rukia explains to Ichigo what Shinigami do, we see five Hollow footsteps, but only hear the last four. *In episode 1 When Ichigo is confronting the skateboarders at the beginning of the episode, there are four of them. Yet when they run away, there are only three shown. In the next shot, the first guy knocked down is gone as well. *In episode 1, Soon after Rukia uses a binding spell on Ichigo, she draws a moustache on his face with a marker, yet soon after it's gone. Problem is, his arms were bound behind his back, so how could he wipe it off? As answer to this mysterious disappearance, it was not shown in the pacing of the anime version; but in the original manga version there's a scene showing that Ichigo is wiping the hopely-still-wet moustache drawing on the floor and he was successful in doing so. *In epsiode 1 , the japanese word "shinigami" literally menas "death god" (shini means die & gami is one way of saying god, the other being kami) however when dubbed they call the Shinigami "Soul reapers" instead of "death gods". There is a reason for this however; despite its literal meaning, the Japanese word "shinigami", at least in recent years, is the word used for the traditional grim reaper of Western tradition. The grim reaper quite literally reaps souls; thus "soul reaper" is a logical translation. *In the English version in episode 5, that hollow with the exploding slugs says to Rukia and Chad, "Say hello to my little friends." That's the very famous line Al Pacino said in the movie "Scarface." Word-for-word. The voice-over almost sounded like Scarface himself. *In episode 16 Renji Abari has black tribal tattoos over much of his body. Besides his forehead, his arms, neck, shoulders, chest and back are tattooed. His legs do not appear to be tattooed yet. His tattoos increase in conjunction with his personal achievements. The eyebrow tattoos were his first. Rukia likes to tease Renji about his "weird tattooed eyebrows." *In episode 41 a familiar piece from Neon Genesis Evangelion plays. *Ichigo's name also sounds like ichi (one) and go(five). Thus in episode 113, you can see a sign on Ichigo's bedroom door saying 15. *In episode 132, Toushiro Hitsugaya reacts similarly to Edward Elric from FMA when one of Karin's friends called him a 'midget.' Ironically enough, both Hitsugaya and Ed were voiced by the same Japanese voice actress, Romi Park. *In episode 204, in the restaurant where Ichigo had dinner with Rurichiyo, there is a girl looks like Senna behind Ichigo. all information on the Bleach (Anime) came from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach_(anime)